Youth group slams Defensor, ‘the President’s honorary son’

The other MikeYouth group slams Defensor, ‘the President’s honorary son’

Youth group Anakbayan slammed former Presidential Chief of Staff Mike Defensor’s meddling in the ZTE mess as the former is set to appear at the resumption of the Senate ZTE hearings today.

Anakbayan chairperson Eleanor de Guzman called Defensor ‘the other Mike, the President’s honorary son who remains at the beck and call of his erstwhile boss.’ “To what affinity or whose benefit is quite obvious and one that the Senate should move resolutely to unearth.”

Pres. Arroyo quietly appointed Defensor to the board of Petron right after he lost his senatorial bid last 2006 national elections. He has since ceased to enjoy any government post.

De Guzman said that Lozada’s statements ‘not only exposed anomalies in the ZTE deal but also opened the can of worms on Arroyo’s “extended family”.’

“Defensor has no official reason to get involved, much less arrange for face-saving press conferences or offer money at the behest of the administration. The only reason he figures in this mess is not because he is Lozada’s friend but because he can utilize their friendship to convince the star witness to conspire with the administration,” de Guzman said.

“Defensor’s sudden appearance in the picture just proves how desperate and scared senseless the Arroyo administration is that it is unleashing all forces and means, official or backdoor, to quell Lozada.”

Youth protests pour in

Anakbayan, together with Youth Revolt, an anti-Arroyo youth alliance, tied black ribbons earlier today in front of the University of Santo Tomas in Espana as a symbol of the youth’s protest against corruption and tyranny.

Various youth and student groups will also hold a candle-lighting protest later this afternoon along Quezon Avenue in response to expected ‘rabid manuevers of Arroyo’s attack dogs’ in today’s hearings.

More youth protests are set to pour in in the coming days, the youth group announced. ###